Analytics for WeChat Mini-Programs: Where Do We Stand for Performance Tracking? Solutions Benchmark

DECEMBER 2018

1. Introduction to WeChat Mini Programs

2. Mini Program Analytics Setup

3. Benchmark of Current Analytics Solutions

4. Analytics Tagging Examples

Table of contents

1. Introduction to WeChat Mini Programs

1M Mini Programs

200M Daily Active Users (DAU)

95% of ecommerce brands have an MP

Average time spent using Mini Programs(minutes per day)

Feb. 2017 Dec. 2017 Jun. 2017

1.6

9.8

13

After a slow start, WeChat Mini Programs have exploded since the beginning of 2018

63% of the 1B WeChat users have used them

Mini Programs already represent 20~30% of traffic

Distribution of user traffic across Apps and mini-programs (July 2018), in millions

Data from the Top 100 apps with an accompanying Mini-Program; all numbers rounded to nearest million. Source: Quest Mobile, 2018, Quest Mobile ‘TRUTH’ Data Set (August 2018), Resonance Analysis

A much better access experience

Source: Mindworks

Mini Programs = “Instant” Apps embedded in WeChat for disposable interactions, at a fraction of the cost of an App

○ 4 Mb codebase, much quicker to load than an App

○ Loads from Tencent servers

○ No updates needed: the latest version is automatically loaded

○ Cached on the phone

○ Home screen shortcuts (Android only)

○ Works offline: display ID, calculator, etc.

○ >60 entry points (and counting!)

○ Directly shareable in chats

○ “Deep linking” to a specific subpage of the MP

○ Easy, normalized login

○ Seamless integration with WeChat features: Member Cards, IoT/Bluetooth devices, Coupons, WeChat Pay…

○ Can access WeChat info against permission (fapiao info, phone number, addresses…)

○ Unique codebase across iOS and Android, no need to maintain 2 APP versions

○ 20~50% of the development cost of an APP

○ Much shorter time-to-release

Low acquisition cost through accessibility: sharing is the #1 entry point overall

Source: ALDWX

Mini Program Traffic by source, June 2018

Click: http://cpc.cx/nl1Or scan QR code:

Want to learn more about Mini Programs? How do they fare compared to Apps?

Download our 40 slide introduction here: Presented at the CHina CHat 2018 conference in Shanghai in September

2. Mini Program Analytics Setup

2.1 Overall MP Strategy

If you track your website using a 3rd party measurement solution, you should do the same for any type of WeChat Mini Program. It’s the best way to have total control over the data collection quality, and get more insights with regards to user behavior.

Victor Ariza, Analytics Project Manager at LVMH

“

1 main central hub or many focused Mini Programs?

Each WeChat service account can have a total of 13 Mini-Programs attached to it. 10 owned directly, and 3 third-party MPs.This allows you to break down your Mini Program presence over multiple MPs with singular,focused purposes. Compared to a regular App, they need to be understood very fast, especially for infrequent use. It is recommended to offer a user experience as simple as possible, and to not try to replicate a fully blown App (read more here).

BEST PRACTICE:

1 MP =

1 core functionality & 1 main business goal

QUNAR: 1 booking-focused MP

MC DONALD’S: 1 main MP and 4 dedicated sub Mini Programs

Main “Hub” Mini Program

Birthday Club

Order in store

Gift Cards

Delivery

VS

KFC provides an array of services to its customers through dedicated Mini Programs, from delivery to social responsibility.

Although fragmented and providing each a particular service, they are all held together by a “Hub” MP.

KFC has 21 official accounts linked to their Mini Programs, of which one is the official national KFC account, and 20 focused on specific cities.

The drawback is it increases the complexity of the performance tracking, with the multiplication of traffic flows and entry points.

Accessible from all but two of KFC’s official accounts

Accessible only from KFC’s China Official account

Accessible from KFC’s Heilongjiang official account

Group buying MP

Delivery

Loyalty Program Card

Social Responsibility

KFC+ HUB/ Order in

restaurant

Loyalty Program Redeem

Points

Example: KFC mini programs cross tracking

Which touch points to focus on?Map of the main Mini Program entry points within the WeChat ecosystem

Integrating an MP with 3rd Party analytics tools

Tracking WeChat mini programs performance is possible at two levels:

● Quantitative aggregate level: using the default WeChat MP backend or third-party tools like Aladdin

● Individual user behavior analysis: each visitor can be tracked individually via an identifier pair called the UnionID (MP level) and OpenID (Official Account level). With a social CRM system (sCRM), you can then connect MP usage with official account engagement, website visits, purchase history and more.

The default WeChat backend typically falls short in tracking capabilities, as it only allows for aggregate analysis. It also lacks a lot of the features you need to track conversions at the micro level. E,g custom events such as interactions with a specific element of the MP page.

To track interactions at an individual user level, you will need a 3rd party social CRM solution. They can be omni-channel, or WeChat specific.

2.2 Tracking Objectives

● Before the MP is designed, you need a clear picture of your business goals and

how success will be measured (KPIs)

● Once the MP is released you should focus on tracking conversion and adjust /

update the MP accordingly.

01Business Goals

● Identify existing customers among

WeChat followers

● Increase repeat orders

● Offer a seamless omni-channel

customer experience

● Increase engagement and brand

awareness

● Generate qualified leads with name

and phone number

02KPIs

● % of new followers identified as

customers

● % of sales from repeat customers,

order frequency, average basket

● % of MP users from sharing, from

favorites

● % of MP visitors considered engaged

● Overall MP conversion: lead

generation, action completion etc.

03Macro Conversions

04Micro Conversions

● Journey completions

● Repeat MP users

● End conversion: form filling,

registration, purchase completion

● Journey steps, page visits

● Sharings

● Interactions with page elements

● Page scroll > x%

● Customer service requests

● Traffic to linked Mini Programs

● Reviews, ratings, comments

● Content interactions: live streaming

views, video views

Business Goals: ● In-store orders

● Delivery orders

● Repeat orders, average

basket

● % of WeChat users

registered with the loyalty

program

● Offer a seamless

experience via a “Hub”

linking all Mini Programs

together

● Active Users (DAU, MAU)

● New Users % over last X

weeks

● Registered Users with

loyalty program

● Retention Rate

● Average Revenue per

user, avg. basket,, lifetime

Value

● Conversion Rate

● Number of Shares

● Traffic from favoriting and

search

KFC+ (肯德基+)Macro Conversions:Journey completions

Repeat MP users

Churn

End conversion:registration,

orders completion

Micro Conversions:Journey steps, page visits

Sharings

Interactions with page

elements

Customer service requests

Traffic to linked Mini

Programs Programs

KPIs:

KPIs:● Active Users (DAU,

MAU)

● New Users

● Usage frequency

across the 3

functions: IIT,

company valuation,

pay scale

● Retention Rate

● Source Channels

● Number of Shares

● Leads generated

SJGrand Calculator

Macro Conversions:Journey completions

Repeat MP users

Churn

Clicks on phone number

Micro Conversions:Sharings

Interactions with page

elements

Business Goals: ● Brand awareness &

engagement among

a target audience of

foreign business

owners and

managers

● Collect engagement

information from

WeChat followers to

personalize content

targeting

● Generate qualified

leads & inquiries

Using MP performance tracking to feed your optimization strategy

The key to defining your mini program performance is to identify how your entry points perform in regards to your mini program’s core engagement/conversion goals such as:● Which WeChat posts from OA have brought the most traffic or has the highest

conversion rate?● Which KOL campaign has generated the most sales or engagement on the mini

program looking at goals related to engagement or sales?● Which advertising channel has brought the most qualified traffic on the mini

program?● Which form field has the highest drop-off?● Which features on the Mini Program are the most used?

And optimize the design or features accordingly (e.g., removing form fields that are causing high abandonment, removing clutter on a product page to increase adding to cart, add helpers on checkout steps, retarget cart abandonment with transactional notification messages, etc.)Just like any other digital product, it is also crucial to A/B test your WeChat Mini Program. Some solutions such as AB Testin offer such testing out of the box. In order to A/B test a Mini Program, you need to have two different versions which you can direct a portion of the traffic to.

A/B testing flow with conditions

We can demonstrate WeChat chatbot performance through numbers. We did A/B testing and a side by side funnel analysis for Budweiser on the effectiveness of chatbots and how we helped them better convert followers to members and sales. Leverage Chatbot + Analytics to better support, covert retain users and discover unique qualitative insights through conversation.

Weiqi Li, Vice President at Rikai Labs

“

How to build your MP performance tracking dashboards?Mini Programs being just one of the multiple pieces of your WeChat puzzle, you most likely need an overall solution to track all your WeChat data points at once:

1. OA2. H5 Media Campaigns3. Website with JSSDK 4. Mini Programs5. Chatbot6. CS Livechat7. WeChat H5 Store

This is why we recommend to primarily look at API connectors when choosing your MP tracking solution, to be queried by your overall data visualization/dashboarding (Tableau, Google Data Studio, etc.)

However, if you prefer to manage the MP tracking dashboards separately, each platform has its own data reporting capabilities. We recommend looking at the visualization engine and its flexibility vs. out of the box features: Talking Data, for example, allows users to build their own fully custom dashboards.

2.3 Tagging plan: Principles & Implementation

The purpose of tracking a Mini Program doesn’t differ from any digital initiative. You will want to tie users segments to conversions, marketing campaigns, key UI triggers and backend/transactional data. It’s currently impossible using the native analytics UI and functions. Considering the flexibility of the framework used for Mini Programs, I’d recommend working at the API level from the planning phase and use a pure player in analytics for reporting.

Thomas Portolano, Digital Lead APAC at Christie’s

“

Tagging Plan

Capturing transactional macro conversions is often the easiest, as they are often usually tracked automatically, e.g., for an E-commerce Mini Program. On the other hand, non-transactional macro conversions may require to add specific tracking, such as traffic source for example.Implementing funnels to track the path to your macro conversions is also imperative to detect the choke points or issues with the design, the content, etc.

Tracking micro conversions is where default Mini Programs analytics typically fall short, as they do not measure interactions with elements of your interface (unless they send to another page).You need then to prepare a plan of what you want to measure, and augment your mini program with third-party analytics to track custom events.

Tagging example: KFC+

Download our event tagging template and implement event tracking and funnels on your MP: http://cpc.cx/nl2

Yes! Most international brands are still using Google

Analytics as their central analytics solution for all their web properties. In that regard, it is possible to use GA as analytics for your WeChat Mini Program.

MPs cannot fire the default frontend GA script. There is an existing connector available that will send hits to GA from the Mini Program backend.

But beware of the limits:

● Because the google-analytics.com domain name is not ICP enabled it cannot be added to an MP’s server whitelist, you need to proxy the requests to GA with an ICP-enabled server

● MP-specific events cannot be tracked (e.g., tracking entries from individual QR code scan)

Can we still use Google Analytics to track WeChat Mini Programs?

Mini Program entry sources as a dimension in Google Analytics

Download our MP tagging plan spreadsheet template

Click: http://cpc.cx/nl3Or scan QR code:

The next slides are detailing our Mini Program spreadsheet template and the logic behind each tab. It has been designed specifically to be used with Aladdin, but it can be adapted to any other solution.

We recommend you download it to better understand our descriptions:

Tagging Plan Tab 1 - Account Information

Testing Account Information MP N.1 Live Account Information MP N.1

Application Type Application Type

APP Name APP Name

Service Type Service Type

Aladdin Key Aladdin Key

Access to the SDK Access to the SDK

Testing Account Information MP N.2 Live Account Information MP N.2

Application Type Application Type

APP Name APP Name

Service Type Service Type

Aladdin Key Aladdin Key

Access to the SDK Access to the SDK

Aladdin Implementation Guide

Integrating Google Analytics to a web app is simply generating a code snippet for testing and live account with 2 different views and insert it in the header and footer of the page. On the other hand, most of the Mini Program analytics solutions generate a key and a SDK. Like a website, you can have multiple Mini Programs under the same account and do mini programs cross-tracking analysis.

Tagging Plan Tab 2 - Mini Program QR Code Detailed Listing

Name

Generate Code with ID & Secret

Generate Code with

Access Token QR Code Group

Page Path Style1 - Parameter

Name1- Parameter

Value2 - Parameter

Name2 - Parameter

ValueMini

Program ID

Mini Program

Secretaccesstoken

Brand_Hairstyle_Shanghai_Spring17_O

OH

Campaign / Round Channel OOH Campaign ID985

Jingan_002 Store / Round City Shanghai Store JA002

ArtFair_Shanghai_Booth_

Register Page

Media /register Round Event art_fair_100518 Media a45

Just like WeChat Official Account QR codes, you can create MP QR codes with parameters to track sources of scanning: campaigns, posters, business cards, referrals etc.

Tagging Plan Tab 2 - Mini Program QR Code Grouping

1) Values contained within ## represent a variable value2) Currently there's an 8 parameter per event limit.

Name DescriptionParameter 1

NameParameter 1

ValueParameter 2

NameParameter 2

Value

CampaignsPlace all QR codes related to marketing campaigns in this group

Channel #Campaign name# Campaign #Campaign ID#

KOLPlace all QR codes related to KOL campaigns in this group

KOL #KOL Post# Article Bottom #KOL ID#

Stores Place all QR codes related to stores in this group City #City Name# Store #Store ID#

MediaPlace all QR codes related to media Buying in this group

Event #Event Name# Promo #Promo ID#

The grouping QR Code Grouping tab is used to outline the grouping logic of QR codes into categories: e.g. campaigns, KOL, stores, POS, events, etc… and therefore see the performance of each entry point and see the return on investment for every group from a higher level.

Tagging Plan Tab 4 - Mini Program Funnel Management

Name Description Specifications

CheckoutPath the user goes through to complete a purchase

Page Path: /cart > /payment > /thankyou

Form User Info When user fills out a form Custom event ID#: 2-5

Add to cartWhen user adds an item to cart in a specific order

Pages path: /Category1, /product3, /cart, /thankyou

Store Locator User accesses store locator and selects store Event 6 > Page: /storelocator > Event ID 7

Gift CardPath the user goes through to purchase a gift card

Page Path: /giftcardlisting > /giftcarddetail > /payment > /thankyou

Funnels are working the same way as in Google Analytics.

Tagging Plan Tab 5 - Mini Program User Groups

Name Description

New User Purchase Users who accessed the MP for the first time and completed a purchase

QR Code Registered Users who accessed the MP through a QR code and registered

Same as for the QR codes, and using the same principles as most social CRMs, you can segment and group your Wechat Mini Programs users according to specific events, interactions or users behaviours.

Tagging Plan Tab 6 - Custom Events

1) Aladdin’s current limit is 1000 Custom Events2) Key is a string, and the character length must be less than 255.3) When the value is string, the character length must be less than 255.4) When the value is a JavaScript object, the value of the object can only be string type.5) String supports special characters. But not included (English comma, English colon: dot.)6) The value parameter of the event cannot be empty7) Values contained within two dashes ## represent a variable value8) Currently there is no limit to the number of parameters per event.

TRACKING PLAN

#ID Name Key Value Description Javascript code Example

1 Name key valueapp.aldstat.sendEvent('name',{'key': 'value'});

2 form_name

page

#page path#

(/, /products, /contact/article1) When user fills in name

on form

app.aldstat.sendEvent('form_name',{'page': '#page path#','form_name': '#form name#'});

app.aldstat.sendEvent('form_name',{'page': '/content/article1','form_name': 'article_download'});

form_name

#form name#

(article_download, newsletter)

3 form_phone

page

#page path#

(/, /products, /contact/article1)

When user fills in phone on form

app.aldstat.sendEvent('form_phone',{'page': '#page path#','form_name': '#form name#'});

app.aldstat.sendEvent('form_phone',{'page': '/content/article1','form_name': 'article_download'});

form_name#form name#

(Possible Values)

We have our own backend and customized analytics tools to examine wellbeing and optimize the Mini Program accordingly. I.e., we optimize based on real-world efficacy, as opposed to Mini Program usage or other common metrics. An analytics platform with efficacy metrics would be tricky, and niche, but probably good for the community.

Bechara Saab, CEO & Chief Scientist at Mobio Interactive

“

3. Benchmark of Current Analytics Solutions

The WeChat backend is the simplest way since the tracking can be done from the backend, much like Google Tag Manager. However, such events are not available yet to third-party tools.

Other third party-tools, paid or free, will provide you with several extra data points and features allowing you to measure the performance of your MP more accurately

Most of the analytics tools use Javascript code to track custom events. This means that you will need your developer or vendor to implement your tagging plan into the Mini Program code.

There are two main categories of third-party tools: 1) pure WeChat Mini Program players, and 2) cross-channel analytics solutions. While pure players tend to have more MP specific tracking features and cover a lot of use cases with out of the box templates, cross-channel analytics have the advantage of gathering App, H5 and website tracking all in one place.

We have not thoroughly tested all the solutions listed in the following benchmark: feature comparison was done via analyzing each solutions’s documentation, accessing demos and reading online reviews. The results are gathered in a shared Google Spreadsheet. You are welcome to contribute to this benchmarking effort: drop us a line and we will be happy to grant you editing rights to this shared knowledge base.

How to implement your tagging plan on a Mini Program?

MINI PROGRAM

TALKINGDATA JICE.IO ALADDIN

HOTAPP DEV.ANALYSYS.CN GROWINGIO SENSOR DATA

QUESTMOBILE TENCENT

ANALYTICS

Map of the WeChat Mini Program analytics ecosystem

Specific to WeChat Mini Programs

Overview comparison of 11 Mini Program analytics tools（1/3）

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Overview comparison of 11 Mini Program analytics tools（3/3）

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Access a more detailed analysis with our benchmark source file and stay up-to-date with the evolution of analytics solutions

Click: http://cpc.cx/ntQOr scan QR code:

Want to know which is the best fit for your specific needs among 3rd party MP tracking solutions? The shared spreadsheet for this section’s benchmark is a lot more detailed.

Want to contribute to this effort? Send us an email to info@31ten.network, we will grant you editing rights.

4. Analytics Tagging Exercise Using KFC+ and SJGrand Mini Programs

KFC+ Mini Program

SJ Grand Tax Calculator Mini Program

Page 1 Page 2

Credits:The Chinaccelerator teams for their support.Rikai Labs - Weiqi LiMobio Interactive - Bechara SaabVictor ArizaThomas Portolano

Resources:Mini Program Documentation: https://open.wechat.com

Aladdin: https://aldwx.com

TalkingData: https://www.talkingdata.com

Hotapp: https://weixin.hotapp.cn

Mobile Tencent Analytics: https://mta.qq.com

Growing IO: https://www.growingio.com

Zhuge: http://zhugeio.com

Baidu Tongji: http://mtj.baidu.com

Quest Mobile: https://data.questmobile.com.cn

Analysys: http://dev.analysys.cn

Sensors Data: https://www.sensorsdata.cn

Jice.io: http://jice.io

www.31ten.network

Follow 31Ten on WeChat for in-depth analysis of China Digital & WeChat trends.

Authors:

Mario JuarezDigital Analytics & Strategist, 31Tenmario@31ten.network

Henry XiuProject Manager, 31Tenhenry@31ten.network

Clement LedormeurGeneral Manager, 31Tenclement@31ten.network

Need to design, build or audit/improve a WeChat Mini Program? Connect with us!

‣WeChat Solutions Design & Development

‣UX & UI

‣Online Performance & Analytics

31Ten is a digital agency specialized in building tailor-made web

applications for WeChat: Mini Programs, "H5" or integrations with

existing customer-facing or enterprise-grade solutions. In 3 years of

existence, we have served 40+ brands across 90+ projects.

31°10′N: our name is derived from Shanghai's latitude, where we are

based on serving as a compass that guides our clients in leveraging

China's super app to reach, engage, convert and serve an increasingly

agile customer. Our constant R&D ensures we will help you choose

the best interface, user flow, and WeChat infrastructure to make your

project a success. So get in touch with one of our expert consultants

today and we’ll show you how we can build your WeChat footprint

effectively, together.

SELECTED CLIENTS CONTACT:

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General Manager

(+86) 186 2104 2230

clement@31ten.network

linkedin.com/in/clement-ledormeur

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